I love to knit.. and I love cupcakes.. so...

Ok, so I admit, I am a lover of both knitting and cupcakes (although I don't eat very many anymore!). For those of you who don't know, I am an AVID knitter, if I'm doing nothing else... i am knitting! So when I saw this episode of Matha, I was floored! I ask you, how much more adorable can one get?

I can't believe I'm spinning!!!

Thanks to some marvelous friends on Ravelry, I am spinning!!! I can't believe it!

I know I am a bad, bad blogger! But I have put some things in place that will, hopefully, make it possible to have a nicely updated and interesting blog, we'll see!

I have been busy - between the kids, homeschooling, homemaking and keeping, (yes, there's a difference ;o) knitting and, now my newest hobby - spinning, I've really got to stay on top of my game to keep my blog updated. My lack of consist ant content is simply a sign of my lack of organization. LOL However, with the help of my newest favorite website, Happy Housewives, I am slowly coming around. It's like boot camp, and I LOVE it!

Playsilks, Puppies & Soap, Oh my!

So what on earth have we been up to?? So much!
Making homemade toys, soap and getting our little pug Pinky re-adjusted to being home. (See previous posts below for details on each)

In an effort to rid our home of plastic-blinky-blinky-blinky-non-imaginative toys, we are on a quest to make new, fun, natural material toys to replace the ones we're just gotten rid of. One of which are these lovely playsilks! What is a playsilk -- hmm.. here's a good definition. We had so much fun dying them with koool aid yesterday, and dd and son began having fun with them almost immediately.


In addition to the playsilks, we've been playing around with wool roving, making felted balls and fairies. What fun that was! Click below to flip through the pics to see the felt ball making fun!

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The kids had a ball! And it was a most impressive science project!


Many of our toys are typical Waldorf inspired toys ~ very simple toys, faceless dolls (to make way for imagination) and natural materials. DD has also been on a very big Fairy kick and added fairies to our list toys to make. Here is her first Waldorf inspired fairy, named Angelica. We plan to make more very soon, and with each go, we plan on getting better at it! ;-)

All of the wool roving for this project and the felted balls, was given to us by some dear fellow ravelers, who read about our interest in natural wool toys, and donated some wool to experiment with! From color dyed, to natural combed wool to raw wool straight from the sheep! This little play has provoked some kind of a desire to play with wool (oh no! Could the spinning bug be hitting home!), and as such we have 2 LB of roving on order from The Sheep Shed Studio. Maybe I won't spin it.. {clearing her throat}, I simply DON'T have time...
...TO BE CONTINUED.

So, I decided to show my gratitude to these generous wool-giving ladies, by sending them some handmade soap we recently made. That was another fun venture. Click through the stack below to see the process (you can also click to enlarge and see a description.:

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In more news ~~ Pinky is home and settling in just wonderfully!


She did have a vet appointment yesterday for a small imperfection we spotted in her eye. All is well, however, and we left with some eye drops to administer 3 times a day.... oh joy! But hopefully, this will mean clear, beautiful eyes for a long time to come.




Until later..

n

Knitting Projects!

Click on each photo, to shuffle through pics! 

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I turn my back for 10 seconds....

So, here's why I should NEVER turn my back on the kids to ask the sales person a quick question, right?

I turn my back for just a quick question, and I turn back to my baby boy dressed like the missing princess from YMCA! Oye Vey! My poor baby.. do you see the eveil fairy godmother back there? Yes, she's the culprit!

Needless to say the people around me thought this was hilarious, Daddy? ~ not so much.. LOL


We are very close to starting our new school year, our Sonlight curriculum is here and looks VERY interesting! We're really excited to get started. DD had such a great time putting together the castle box that the books came in! All we need to get now is our handwriting from Abeka and Math U See and we're all set!

Listen In:
Birds? chirping? Yes! Early morning bird songs are so pretty.

View from the front window:
Kids at play, must be spring break?

Supper Plans:
Fish

In the garden:
Gardening Plans: We will begin out Square Foot porch garden any day now! Hubby bought the wood, now I wait!

Beauty in the common things:
We are so blessed to have a home, our health and so much of everything we take for granted!

On the Needles:
Silk Sleeves, Koolhaas hat, and finally, my Shetland Triangle! (Thank YOU Trudi!), Socks and Chevron Scarf.

Something New:
Baby boy is walking! (he's actually been walking for about a month, but I forgot to tell you.. hehe) and Video Podcasts!!! LOVE Vcasts, and this one --> Lets Knit2gether, in particular!

n

Hats, Scarves Bags, and Boxes

Boy, what a bunch of updates I have! I have been so bad at keeping everything updated, but I will truly try much harder to stay up to date here. Our horrible HughesNet connection is partly to blame, and the rest is simply time. I think if my connection as faster, my time issue would probably resolve itself. But, until then.. we carry on.. :-)

First, a FO:
My dear sons new hat, scarf and mitts set! Isn't he a cutey pie!

And a WIP:


Chevron Scarf
Pattern: Scarf Style by Interweave Press
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky

I've wanted to try this pattern, and being a new knitter, decided I would do this in a solid color first time around, not expecting much.. I L-O-V-E it! The pattern is really very, very simple, and produces such lovely results ~ even in a solid color. Can't wait to see it some to life in color!


We are gearing up for our new Homeschool year (yes, we start just about anytime during the year!). Our Sonlight curriculum just arrived in the mail and it looks like so much fun! Now, we await our Math U See Beta and Abeka Cursive Handwriting and we're off the the races! It's also time to get our reading list in for the six flags 6 hour reading program and time to sign up for the Pizza Hut Book It! program.

On the home front:

Listen In:
Momma's sweet baby crying sleepily as he learns to fall asleep on his own..

View from the front window:
Nippy, nippy.. wait! Is that snow?!

Supper Plans:
Cabbage and Ground turkey (Yum!)

In the garden:
Gardening Plans: We will begin out Square Foot porch garden any day now!

Beauty in the common things:
The peace of sweet baby boy finally falling asleep (yes, that quickly!) and the quiet time between then and the moment I lay my head down (The ONLY few tranquil minutes I have all day!)

On the Needles & Hooks:
hmm, lets see: 2 hooded scarves that are just draaaging on.. , socks, sleeves & a Chevron scarf. In the next week: Another diaper soaker for the baby, Tiramisu Baby Blanket (gift), Koolhaas hat and the Hemlock! (Yes! Can't wait!)

Something New:
My beautiful new Lexie Barnes Lady B knitting bag! Love it! All the room I need, I can get a few small project, a couple of large projects, all my needles and all my every day stuff (including a diaper!) in this bag! It's water proof, has sturdy, non-slip shoulder straps, double zipper, matching needle cases, TONS of pockets, and is absolutely gorgeous to boot! (see pics below!)

n

Cutest little wool soaker butt!

Just finished little man's wool soaker! How cute! It turned out really nice, I like it a lot with the small adjustments I made to the pattern. Thanks to my dear friend Trudi, I started out with the Ottobre wool soaker pattern as a base. Then I came across a few other patterns that I liked different details of, so I added the additional ribbing from the Sheepytime Sheepy Sack pattern at the bottom of their pattern page. I love how it came out. I made the legs just a bit longer. And I made the waist a bit longer as well, and then folded it down in half, before lacing the drawstring through. I thought about adding eyelet holes for the drawstring, but decided against it, so that as he grows bigger if I need, I can unfold the waist for a longer rise and not have to worry about holes from an eyelet row. The Ottobre pattern was super quick to work up and was a pleasure to knit, so I'll definitely be doing about 6 more of these! :-D

n

"Momento Bowl" & Beautiful Yarn Storage Ideas

We've come across a great book, "Weekend Knitting" by Melanie Falick. I highly recommend this book if you appreciate the beauty in the medium that we work with as knitters and crocheters. The pictures are heartfelt and warm, the ideas are great and the little tid-bits throughout the book, capture the rythmic, homely essence and pure beauty of knitting.

From this book, comes an awesome idea ~ We call it our "Momento Bowl." While our bowl is still a work in progress, it is still pretty and inviting. As we finish projects we will begin adding smaller sample balls of yarn and prettier needles. But for now, the simplicity of what we have works both as a beautiful storage solution and a Momento Bowl to share and create memories with friends for a long time to come!

Weekend knitting describes it best:

"Inevitably, if you leave knitting projects or pretty yarns or knitting books around your house, some of your guests are going to want to knit while they're visiting. To be ready for such situations, try setting up a quests knitting bowl or basket. In it place a small piece of knitting (just a few rows worked on a set of pretty needles) and yarn leftover from finished projects. When quests ask to knit, invite them to add on to the knitting you've started with whichever yarn they like best from the bowl. After a while (months or years, depending on the industriousness of your guests), you'll have a long, colorful ribbonlike momento- a memory quilt of sorts - of creative time spent with friends and family. You'll see the inevitable holes created bu the knitters who learned to knit on this ribbon as well as the complicated stitchwork of the experienced knitters who have stopped by."

-- Weekend Knitting, P. 129

Speaking of storage solutions -- do you see my nifty little yarn ball winder? Oh, I absolutely love! See how neat my balls are? (you should have seen them before!). On the storage front, this book has some great ideas for decorating with yarn (I've starred [*] my favorites!):

"

• Place pretty colors together in clean wooden bowls*, natural baskets, or other creative holders. Scour yard sales and antique shops for unusual choices. Casually combining an assortment of colors often leads to new discoveries about how colors play off one another.
• "Dress" a vintage dress form in yarn. Drape yarn across it's shoulders, or around it's neck or waist.
  
• Drape yarn around the back of a chair or on the door of a cabinet or armoire.
• Fill an armoire with yarn and leave doors open to display.
  
• Use a hank of yarn as a curtain tie-back.
  
• Hang different colors of yarn on the pegs of a coat rack.
  
• String an assortment of yarn on a cord and hang form a wall hook. *
• Line up cones of yarn on a shelf.
• Set up shelves and cubbies along an entire wall and arrange the yarn in a pleasing sequence of colors and textures. While some knitters will do this in a storage or workroom, it can also work well in a more public space.
  
• If you like to paint, draw or take photos, consider using your yarn as a subject for a still life. "
  

-- Weekend Knitting, P. 41

DD Learned to KNIT!!!!

After much trial and error ~ well, a little trial and error.. :-D, It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce that DD has got it!!! She learned to knit! We tried a few months back and she wasn't ready yet, but after her big sis came for a visit and learned to knit, she decided to give it another try.. and she got it! She's very excited, and spends her own time concentrating on "her" knitting.


She is really enjoying it and keeps adding to our Momento bowl.. (I'll fill you in on this neat tid-bit later).

Here she is casting on (her favorite part). She is already planning her Christmas gifts for next year!




Now we can sit and knit together.. oh the joys of mother-daughter bonding.

n

Hello and Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas gifts are done, and the holidays are over! What a wonderful time of giving! Everyone loved their gifts (that's my moms lace scarf in the pic). One thing I learned in making gifts this year, I will be starting VERY soon on next years gifts! :-D

It has been some time since I posted, mostly because of the holidays - preparation, guests, festivities and aftermath. I hope everyone's Christmas was blessed and New year will be great! I thought I'd give a little update and get used to getting on (and off) of my blog, in an effort to make it a more regular part of my day... :-) So, I was browsing around some of my favorite blogs this morning, and went to check on the Large Family Logistics blog to see if she was back up and running. And she is! not too many posts, as she is taking care of her precious little guy, who was brought to this earth prematurely, and is doing exceptional now! So, other then a few minor updates, there won't be much going on, HOWEVER.. there is so much wisdom in this site. and I find myself going back time and time again, for motivation, wisdom, inspiration. When I forget what to do, how to do it, or don't know where to get the energy to do it from!, I wander back over and read various topics on home keeping, home management, home Schooling, etc. I decided to borrow an update feature from her, I think it's kind of neat, short sweet to the point, so with a few minor personal adjustments:

Listen In:
:-( little sniffles, coughs (from mom AND baby) and the hum of the Vick's humidifier.

View from the front window:
Pretty day in GA, cool and crisp but bright and sunny!

Supper Plans:
New years Leftovers~Yes we still have them!

In the garden:
Greens & Kale (Broccoli is all gone! it was mm mmm yummy!)

Beauty in the common things:
Little gleam of sun, shining through the window.

On the Needles & Hooks:
3 scarves and a big cozy wrap! (It's that time of year!)

Something New:
I am finally on Ravelry! Yeay! I LOVE this site, if you haven't signed up for an invite yet, please do, it is awesome! For those already on Ravelry, my page is http://www.ravelry.com/people/ngabriel
Please come by and visit!

Knitting. Crocheting. Lets Talk!

Ok, so to update everyone on the world I have been living in for the past couple of weeks!, :-D I am currently working on several projects, both Knit and crochet, for the holidays. In doing this, I have opened up a world I new nothing about. Oh, the community that exists of people with this like interest, is phenomenal! So, here goes:

Websites & Blogs:
Ravelry - I so want a Ravelry page, but alas, I am on the waiting list.
Crochetme - A great Crochet community by the author of the book by the same name. Be sure to check out the very cool Blog as well!
BrooklynTweed - This guy's talent is beyond belief!
Betz White - Felted Cup o' Joe's as seen on Martha.
Happy Yellow House - Free Patterns for Crocheted Afghans!
Handable - Home of KnitAble, CrochetAble & Countable PDA sofware! Keep track of your knitting projects, stash, needles, patterns, gifts, etc. How could I pass it up!
KnitMap - Have you seen this!!! Find your local yarn shop! Oh beauty, we found one nearby and a girlfriend and I will be taking a day trip to THIS beautiful shop near us. Find the shop near you!
Oneskein - the knit-A-Long blog to the companion book (see below).
PurlSOhO - a pretty place to shop...
Susan B. Anderson - Blog of the author of the amazing "Itty Bitty Nursery" book. (see below)

Books: See side panel under "Books I'm reading! There's a whole section there with my Crochet/Knit titles in order of adoration! :-D

Re-discovering a Lovely Hobby

I Love, Love, Love this necklace!

While pregnant, I took up crocheting to pass time, and make cuties for the new babe. After babe came along, I stopped and have just recently re-started my addictive compulsion! LOL. I am all-in, head first, and there's no coming up for air! :-D .

I have decided to make all of our Christmas gifts this year, and what you see here is one gift I plan on trying my best to conquer! A new friend has these beautiful necklaces, and bracelets for sale at her Etsy shop. She will have the patterns for sale as well, and I'll post the link here as soon as they are all available!

In addition to the above thread crocheted item, the following items are on my Work in Progress Christmas list (WIPCL):

1 Afghan
2 Tea & Cookie Sets
1 Poncho
1 Amigurumi Doll
2 Little Bunny's
1 felted Checkers set
5 convertabe Neck warmers/hats
1 Flannel Travelghan
1 Pair slippers
3 Necklace sets
1 set Rattles

Wow, what a list... I think I forgot something! I'll keep everyone posted as I finish my projects!
Happy Monday!
n